A Day as a Mystery Shopper

The following is an example of the mystery shopping process you can expect in many cases, when you’ve been given an assignment. After notifying her employer of her availability Megan, a student on spring break, receives a phone call with her next assignment. Her employer informs her that the assignment is like the many she has done before and she is asked to make several phone calls to a local tuxedo company in her area. Megan discusses the goals of her assignment with her employer and is given a set of questions she will be asking the employees of the tuxedo shops over the phone. Prom is coming up, and she will be posing as a potential future customer who is asking about prices, styles and promotions for the dance.

Note – If Mystery Shopping sounds like your cup of tea then be sure to review our section on home based jobs too.

Megan is told that she will receive an email of the company’s goals, a list of questions and an evaluation form she is to complete for each store she calls. Megan will be expected to call and complete the evaluations over the next two days. She is instructed to make the phone calls over the weekend because the company owners want to see how their employees deal with answering the questions of future customers during busy business hours.

After receiving the email, Megan understands the questions she will be asking the store’s employees and has read the evaluation form thoroughly so she knows what to be aware of during her assignment. She communicates with her employer that she understands the goals of the company and the goals of her assignment and confirms the dates she will make the calls, and when she will have the evaluations done. She and her employer also discuss the time it will take her to complete the calls. In total, Megan will work approximately 3 hours, including time for phone calls, and time to complete the evaluations.

Megan, a local college student in the area, has previously used the services of this particular company. She informs her employer of her previous experience and they discuss her ability to remain objective in her evaluation.

The following day, Megan makes her phone calls. She has an evaluation form for each store that she calls and she tries to ask the same questions in the same tones to each place she reaches. In some cases, she is treated well and in others she feels rushed off the phone.

Megan grades the employees’ responses in reference to the form and takes additional notes that she will include in her evaluation. She takes a minute between each call to go over her experience with that shop in her mind.

After she has called all of the stores and completed the evaluations she includes any other helpful notes about her experience. She notifies her employer of the assignments completion and sends in her evaluations.

Megan worked closer to four hours on the entire project and informs her employer of the time change. She will be paid for the entire four hours and lets her employer know how should would like to be paid. Via Paypal, or check.

Later that week, Megan hears back from her employer about a job well done. The company would now like a mystery shopper to physically go into the store, asking for information. This will be Megan’s next assignment and she will discuss the details with her employer before going in.

This is just one example of a mystery shopping experience. Notice that Megan was always in communication with her employer and took good notes. Megan was first asked to call various stores for her assignment and then later asked to physically go into the stores for her next. These are common variances between assignments however, the key to Megan’s success was communication with her employer and understanding the goals of her assignment.

Megan was then paid for her work after completing the mystery shopping job. Because Megan was on spring break, she had more time to dedicate to work. This is another important aspect of communicating with your employer. It is important for them to know the time you are available so you can work a number of hours you are comfortable with. Megan’s example was also helpful in highlighting the importance of flexibility in non-traditional work schedules, as she conducted work over the weekend.